List of Glossary Terms
The PDSnet Glossary of Terms contains definitions and explanations for over 2600 financial market terms. These definitions are constantly kept up-to-date with current topical examples from the markets. They are also updated for changes in legislation and current events like COVID19 and the July 2021 civil unrest.
The terms in the Glossary are directly linked to all PDSnet articles, confidential reports, lecture modules and other material. This means that a client reading one of our publications can immediately see which terms are defined in the Glossary and click through to read the definition. Terms within the definitions in the glossary are similarly linked, which gives the Glossary an enormous educational depth share market investors.
| QUANTITATIVE TIGHTENING |
The reduction in the size of a central bank's (especially the US Federal Reserve Bank or the "Fed") balance sheet in order to control inflationary... read more |
| ACQUISITION |
This is when one company acquires more than 50% of the shares of another or obtains a controlling interest in its shares. The company acquiring the... read more |
| BANKSERV ECONOMIC TRANSACTION INDEX |
This index, better known as the "Beti" shows transactions captured at the Bankserv clearing house for cards, automatic teller machines (ATM) and electronic... read more |
| ACTUARIES INDEX |
Most stock market indexes, except for the very simplest are calculated by actuaries. This is because the calculation must take into account the minute-to-minute... read more |
| ACTIVIST SHORT SELLER |
An activist short seller is an investor who takes a short position in a listed company and then publicly attacks them to... read more |
| ACT OF GOD |
A completely unpredictable event or "black swan" (see "The Black Swan" by Nasssim Talbert) event, usually but not always occurring as a result... read more |
| ACID TEST RATIO |
An accounting ratio used to determine whether a company's current assets excluding its stock (i.e. just its debtors' book... read more |
| ACCUMULATION |
When the volumes traded in a share start to pick up while the share price moves sideways or upwards, this is known as an "accumulation... read more |
| ACCRUAL |
A balance sheet item that consists of an expense or income which has not yet been paid or received. So, for example, if a company owes rent... read more |
| ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE |
Amounts owing to the company, usually by customers who have bought products on credit. This is another term for "debtors" and appears in the balance... read more |
| ACCOUNTING RECORDS |
The books of a business. These are the books of first entry and other working papers used by the accountants to draw up a company's financial statements.... read more |
| ACCOUNTING POLICY |
A set of policies established by the board of directors for the allocation of transaction entries into the books of account. For public, listed... read more |
| ACCOUNTING PERIOD |
The period of time over which the financial affairs of a company are being accounted for in the financial statements. The matching principle... read more |
| ACCOUNTING CONVENTION |
These are conventions developed by the accounting profession to ensure that the financial statements display a clear and accurate picture of the progress... read more |
| ACCOUNTING CONSERVATISM |
Accountants are notoriously conservative people. Conservatism applies to incomes, expenses, liabilities and assets of unknown amounts.... read more |
| ACCOUNTANCY |
A set of conventions for recording and gathering financial transactions in an organisation. The academic discipline which is accountancy has established a set... read more |
| QUASI-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION |
An organisation which is controlled by the government but is not directly a government department. Such organisations include state-owned enterprises (SOE)... read more |
| ACCOMMODATION |
The extension of credit by the Reserve Bank to commercial banks. The central bank acts as a banker to the commercial banks, lending them money... read more |
| ACCEPTANCE DATE |
The date on which the right acquired by a shareholder, as a result of a rights issue, must be exercised. Listed companies often raise... read more |
| ABOVE-THE-LINE |
A term used to describe any normal expense or income which has been included in the calculation of a company's gross profit and which... read more |
| ABNORMAL ITEM |
An income or expense which may be part of the company's normal business but which is abnormal in amount. So, an unusually high expense or... read more |
| ABC |
Elliott wave terminology for a three-wave countertrend (or downtrend) price movement in an Elliott cycle. Wave "a" is the first down-wave... read more |
| ABANDON |
An option contract which is not enforced because it is out-of-the-money. Options confer a right to either buy (call) or sell (put) a certain quantity... read more |
| T |
The symbol for a transaction's date used by the JSE. Thus T is the date on which a transaction takes place, T+1 is the next trading day, T+n is the day... read more |
| SHARE DEALER |
Someone who deals in shares as their business. A person or organisation that buys and sells shares can be declared by the Receiver of Revenue to be a share... read more |
| SUSTAINABILITY |
A buzz-word which came into fashion in 2015 with the King 3 report on corporate governance. Sustainability is the ability of a corporation... read more |
| SUSTAINABILITY REPORT |
Public companies and state-owned enterprises are required to produce an environmental, social and governance (ESG) report which details their (1)... read more |
| SWAPS |
The sale of one security to purchase another with similar features. |
| SWING CHART |
A chart that has a straight line drawn from each price extreme to the next price extreme based on a set criteria such as percentages or number of... read more |
| SYMMETRICAL TRIANGLE FORMATION |
Two converging trendlines, more or less equally but inversely sloped, which connect a series of peaks and troughs. A break out upwards signals the... read more |